Improvement of feeding skills in multihandicapped students through paced-prompting interventions

Abstract

This research evaluated the efficacy of paced-prompting interventions in treating three multihandicapped students who consumed food at either excessively rapid or slow rates. The programs required trainers to pace the students' eating using various physical prompting procedures and to withhold prompts when acceptable rates of consumption were displayed. In three separate, singlecase reversal designs, the interventions were demonstrated to be effective in improving each student's feeding skills. Staff responses to a social validity questionnaire were consistently favorable. The results support the use of paced-prompting as a practical, cost-efficient, and easily managed strategy for treating feeding problems related to the rate of consumption.